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| United States Patent |
5,289,991
|
|
Sugawara
|
March 1, 1994
|
Spinning reel
Abstract
A spinning reel comprising a reel body, a spool mounted forwardly of the
reel body, a drag mechanism mounted on a rear end portion of the reel body
for applying a braking force to rotation of a spool shaft connected to the
spool, and means for adjusting the braking force of the drag mechanism D
having a first control element for determining a reference braking force
and a second control element for varying the braking force. The first
control element defines a connected portion, and the second control
element has a connecting element switchable between a position engageable
with the connected portion and a position disengaged from the connected
portion.
| Inventors:
|
Sugawara; Kenichi (Sakai, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Shimano Inc. (Osaka, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
974367 |
| Filed:
|
November 10, 1992 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Jul 04, 1990[JP] | 2-71852[U] |
| Current U.S. Class: |
242/245 |
| Intern'l Class: |
A01K 089/027 |
| Field of Search: |
242/244,245,246
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3322371 | May., 1967 | Rouanet | 242/244.
|
| 4238085 | Dec., 1980 | Jansson et al. | 242/245.
|
| 4509705 | Apr., 1985 | Councilman et al. | 242/245.
|
| 4572448 | Feb., 1986 | Ban | 242/245.
|
| 4591108 | May., 1986 | Ban | 242/245.
|
| 4634073 | Jan., 1987 | Coquelet | 242/245.
|
| 4702430 | Oct., 1987 | Saito | 242/245.
|
| 4725012 | Feb., 1988 | Councilman | 242/245.
|
| 4746077 | May., 1988 | Toda | 242/245.
|
| 4749285 | Jun., 1988 | Noda.
| |
| 4988057 | Jan., 1991 | Hitomi | 242/245.
|
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 20150061 | Jan., 1985 | EP.
| |
| 20181027 | Oct., 1985 | EP.
| |
| 63-29423 | Aug., 1988 | JP.
| |
| 2181331A | Oct., 1986 | GB.
| |
| 2202721 | May., 1988 | GB.
| |
Primary Examiner: Matecki; Katherine
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/724,137 filed
Jul. 1, 1991, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A spinning reel comprising:
a reel body;
a spool mounted forwardly of the reel body;
a drag mechanism mounted on a rear end portion of the reel body for
applying a braking force to rotation of a spool shaft connected to the
spool, said drag mechanism including a first group of discs and a second
group of discs;
means for adjusting the braking force of the drag mechanism, said adjusting
means having a first control element for determining a reference braking
force by adjusting an urging force provided by an urging means to said
first group of discs and a second control element for varying the braking
force by adjusting said urging force to said second group of discs, said
first and second control element being disposed adjacent each other at a
rear end of said reel body;
said first control element fixed to a first pressure element of said drag
mechanism to be rotatable therewith, such that rotation of said first
control element causes said first pressure element to adjust said urging
force thereby to adjust said braking force, said first control element
including a sleeve portion defining a connected portion at an outer
periphery thereof, said connected portion having peripheral serially
arranged projections and recesses;
said second control element having a lever portion pivotable to vary a
position of a second pressure element of said drag mechanism thereby to
adjust the braking force, said second control element further having a
connecting element switchable between a position engageable with said
connected portion and a position disengaged from said connected portion;
and
said connecting element, when engaged with said connected portion, causing
said first control element and said second control element to be united
and rotatable together for adjusting said reference braking force.
2. A spinning reel as claimed in claim 1 wherein,
said first control element has a cap-like shape which is screwed to a
threaded portion defined in the reel body, said first control element
being screwable to a defined limit of a stroke axially along the spool
shaft.
3. A spinning reel as claimed in claim 1 wherein,
said lever portion is pivotable about a neutral position in opposite
directions approximately by 90.degree..
4. A spinning reel as claimed in claim 3 wherein,
said lever portion of the second control element has a pressing type knob
for placing the connecting element in the position engaged with the
connected portion.
5. A spinning reel as claimed in claim 1 wherein,
said connecting element is pivotable relative to the second control element
about a support shaft said support shaft being parallel to an axis of the
spool shaft.
6. A spinning reel as claimed in claim 5 further comprising control means
to contact and thus oscillate the connecting element.
7. A spinning reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said urging means is a
spring.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spinning reel, and more particularly to
a spinning reel comprising a reel body, a spool shaft connected to a spool
mounted forwardly of the reel body, a drag mechanism mounted on a rear end
of the reel body for applying a braking force to rotation of the spool
shaft, and means for adjusting the braking force of the drag mechanism
having a first control element for determining a reference braking force
and a second control element for varying the braking force.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the spinning reel as noted above is shown in Japanese Utility
Model Publication No. 63-29423. In this prior art, an adjusting system for
adjusting the braking force of the drag mechanism includes a screw type
mechanism and a cam type mechanism separately from each other. The first
control element is attached to the screw type mechanism while the second
control element is attached to the cam type mechanism. In order to adjust
the braking force of the drag mechanism, the first control element is
rotatable to determine the reference braking force while only the second
control element is pivotable to rapidly vary the braking force when a fish
bites.
In adjusting the braking force of the drag mechanism while fishing with the
spinning reel of this type, the greater the amount of a fishing line fed
from the spool, the smaller the winding diameter of the fishing line
defined around the spool becomes, even if the braking force of the drag
mechanism is constant. As a result, a tensile force of the fishing line
capable of rotating the spool against the braking force of the drag
mechanism becomes greater. Thus, when the amount of the fishing line fed
from the spool becomes greater, it is desirable to decrease the braking
force of the drag mechanism in order to reduce the possibility of breaking
the fishing line.
For the purpose of decreasing the braking force of the drag mechanism with
a feed-out amount of the fishing line, the second control element may be
used. However, if the second control member is used for decreasing the
braking force of the drag mechanism, it may possibly reach a limit when a
fish bites and the angler tries to further decrease the braking force for
"fighting" against the fish. This is disadvantageous in handling the reel.
In order to avoid such a problem, it is desirable to control the first
control element as frequently as possible to set the reference braking
force to a proper value. However, it is troublesome to individually
operate the first and second control elements while fishing and
concurrently the senses of operating these control elements are different,
which requires an improvement in such a structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved
spinning reel in which a reference braking force of a drag mechanism can
be readily determined without producing any different senses when
operating two control elements, and in which the braking force of the drag
mechanism can be changed to a proper value when a fish bites.
In order to achieve the object as noted above, a spinning reel according to
the present invention with the drag mechanism for adjusting the braking
force through the first and second control elements is characterized in
that the first control element defines a connected portion while the
second control element has a connecting element switchable between a
position engaged with and a position disengaged from the connected
portion.
This structure has the following functions and effects.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, if it is desired to adjust the braking force of
the drag mechanism D, e.g. when the amount of the fishing line fed from
the spool 5 increases, the connecting element 15 is moved to a position
engaged with the connected portion 13 thereby to interconnect the first
control element 8 and the second control element 11 through the connecting
element 15 and the connected portion 13. As a result, the reference
braking force can be changed through an operation of the second control
element 11. On the other hand, the connecting element 15 can be moved to a
position disengaged from the connected portion 13 to enable one to quickly
vary the braking force of the drag mechanism D only through an operation
of the second control element 11 in a similar manner to the conventional
art.
In sum, the present invention allows the reference braking force of the
drag mechanism D to vary only through the second control element 11
without operating the first control element 8.
Therefore, the present invention can provide an improved spinning reel in
which the reference braking force of the drag mechanism can be easily
determined without giving the angular any different senses when operating
two control elements, and in which the braking force of the drag mechanism
can be changed to a proper value when a fish bites.
Other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following
detailed description referring to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The drawings show spinning reels embodying the present invention, in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section in side view of a drag mechanism
of the spinning reel according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section in front view of a connecting
element, a knob, and the like of the spinning reel;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the spinning reel; and
FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary vertical sections showing a structure and a
function of the connecting element according to another embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A spinning reel embodying the present invention will be described in detail
referring to the drawings hereinafter.
FIG. 3 shows a spinning reel comprising a reel body 2 having a handle 1.
Forwardly of the reel body 2 are mounted a rotor 4 having a bail 3, and a
spool 5. Rearwardly of the reel body 2 is mounted a drag mechanism D.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drag mechanism D includes a sleeve 7 fitted
on a rear end of a spool shaft 6 connected to the spool 5 for torque
transmission, and a first group of disks D1 and second group of disks D2
fitted on the sleeve 7. The first group of disks D1 adjusts a pressure of
a spring 10 through a first pressure element 9 by rotating a cap-like
first control element 8 screwed to a threaded portion 2A defined in the
reel body 2 to thereby adjust a braking force of the drag mechanism. The
second group of disks D2 varies a position of a second pressure element 12
by oscillating a lever-like second control element 11 screwed to the
threaded portion 2A thereby to adjust the braking force of the drag
mechanism.
The first control element 8 of the drag mechanism D can be screwed to a
limit of a stroke axially along the spool shaft 6. The second control
element 11 has a lever portion 11A pivotable about a neutral position N in
opposite directions approximately by 90.degree.. During normal use, the
first control element 8 is operable to determine a reference braking force
while only the second control element 11 is operable to vary the braking
force when a fish bites.
Also, with this reel, the reference braking force of the drag mechanism D
can be varied by the second control element 11 while doing fishing without
operating the first control element 8.
More particularly, the first control element 8 includes a sleeve portion 8A
defining a connected portion 13 having serially arranged projections and
recesses through peripheries thereof. The lever portion 11A of the second
control element 11 includes a connecting element 15 switchable between a
position engaged with the connected portion 13 and a position disengaged
from the connected portion 13, and a pressing type knob 16 for placing the
connecting element 15 in the engaged position. In order to determine the
reference braking force, it is sufficient to oscillate the second control
element 11 while pressing the knob 16.
The reel further includes a helical groove shaft 17 defining an endless
helical groove 17A, and a transmission element 18 fitted on the helical
groove shaft 17 thereby to form an oscillating mechanism for moving the
spool shaft 6 in a fore and aft direction. A spring linear element 19 is
mounted between the first pressure element 9 rotatable in unison with the
first control element 8 and the reel body 2 for producing click sounds.
Between the second control element 11 and the reel body 2 is mounted a
spring plate 20 for producing click sounds and a detent element 21 for
maintaining the spring plate 20 in a neutral position.
Other embodiments will be set forth below.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the connecting element 15 may be operable in
various ways apart from the foregoing embodiment. For example, the
connecting element 15 may be pivotable relative to the second control
element 11 about a support shaft 22 parallel to an axis of the spool shaft
6 while a control element 23 may be provided to contact and thus oscillate
the connecting element 15.
According to the present invention, the connected portion and the
connecting element may be frictionally engaged with each other, which may
be applied to various fishing reels, e.g. a fishing reel including a drag
mechanism having a single group of disks.
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